1973 Tow Cap 400
This article is a featured article. Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the article! The 1973 Tow Cap 400 is race 10 and was an extremely historic race held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The King had a big crash which caused him to miss seven races before he returned in the Brickyard 400 (in which he won) and get replaced by William Axel. This race is too historic and is also the most historic race of the whole 1970's decade. The reason why? On lap 6, Thomas Tireson and The King were racing side by side for 2nd and 3rd (the leader in the race was Bobby Carsac) when Thomas got loose on turn 4, bashed in The King's side causing The King to go left into the divider between pit road and the track destroying ALL FOUR OF HIS TIRES AND CAUSING HIM TO FLY IN THE AIR! He then landed on his wheels which were destroyed causing even more pain before spinning, catching fire and stopped. A fire truck named John Firecatcher immediately went to the burning King. Tireson then spun and collected Martin Power, Kraig Shiftright (who rushed to see The King on the grass) and Frank Marintire. Kraig called Lynda and she rushed to her husband. Kraig was there when The King was taken by the Dinoco helicopter to a hospital. The race was red-flagged after The King's crash. Bobby Carsac wins with Joe Allen Foyt 2nd and Mario Andretti 3rd. Up to this day, it's the most historic race of the 1970s, the 1st place most historic Tow Cap 400/500 (2nd place being 2009) and the deadliest ever race of the 1973 Piston Cup. Part-timers David Palmer, Ernie Gearson, Don Chapcar, and James Cleanair race, but not Billy Ford, Darrell Cartrip 15-year-old Klint Shiftright. 19-year-old rookie Alex Quint fails to finish and crashes. His first and only two part-time years being 1971 and 1972 before going rookie in 1973. David Palmer surprisingly is the last one to finish. James Carlidge couldn't attend because his brother Richard Carlidge was sick. The King was sent to the hospital and Team Dinoco was there with him. Roger Wheeler and Luke Pettlework cry heavily! Footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIxMDASb_zg at 8:14 (Crash begins at 8:21) (NOTE: Chick Hicks is Thomas Tireson, Red is John Firecatcher, Lightning McQueen is Kraig Shiftright, Lewis Hamilton is Bobby Carsac, Miguel Camino is Joe Allen Foyt, Floyd Mulvihill is Mario Andretti, Manny Flywheel is R.A. Rubberton, Rex Revler is Ronald Oaks, Nigel Gearsley is Johnathan Melter, Max Schnell is Brad Gonzalez, Aiken Axler is Ron Pitcar, and Jeff Gorvette is Michael Smith.) Gallery The King Crash (1973 Tow Cap 400).jpg|The King's crash. The King 1973 Tow Cap 400 Fire Moment.jpg|The King on fire. Kraig and King.jpg|Kraig saying goodbye to The King. For one reason, the picture has Lightning Mcqueen instead of Kraig because Kraig was never seen. AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!.png|Roger crying with the then part-timer Chapcar near him. An animation error was spotted because Chapcar's wheels are blue and his hood pins are missing. Television Biography Network: ABC Announcers: Pinkie Pie and Spike Transcript First Six Laps/The King Crash Pinkie: Pace car's out and the Tow Cap 400 is underway folks. Spike: BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY! LET'S GO RACING AT LAS VEGAS BOYS! Pinkie: Amazing start for pole-winner The King. As they head to turn 2 Thomas Tireson barely catching up on The King! Here comes Tireson, but barely missed the lead! In the fourth turn The King still leading, he leads the first lap of the Tow Cap 400. Spike: It's the second lap here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Strip Weathers continuing to lead while Tireson is second. Looks like here comes Tireson now. The King leads, Tireson second. Can Strip hold on to it? Pinkie: There's 99% chance he's gonna win this race, although unconfirmed. Every fan thinks The King is winning this one. The King continuing to lead with Tireson BARELY, but VERY BARELY missing the lead. It's lap 3 now and Tireson going fast! But SO CLOSE TO TAKING THE LEAD THE KING GOES EVEN FASTER THAN TIRESON! Spike: I mostly like The King best. So that's ok. Now it's the fourth lap at Las Vegas and Weathers and Tireson going to fight for the lead! STRIP WEATHERS CONTINUES TO LEAD! TIRESON GOES FAST! TURN 4 TIRESON GOES FAST! Pinkie: It's lap 5 out of 200 at Vegas and Tireson passes The King! STRIP GOING TO PASS HIM! As they both head to turn 3, Tireson and Weathers are continuing to fight, but THE KING IS DOING IT! HE LEADS THE FIRST FIVE LAPS OF THE 1973 TOW CAP 400! Spike: It's lap 6 and Strip Weathers is still in the lead with Tireson second and R.A Rubberton third. Rubberton doesn't get mentioned. UH OH!!!!!!!!!! TIRESON PASSES! BOBBY CARSAC ROARS TO PASS R.A, THE KING AND THOMAS! BUT THOMAS TIRESON PASSED THE KING! (screams and cries) I DON'T BELIEVE IT! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! Pinkie: THOMAS TIRESON AND THE KING NECK AND NECK! TIRESON IN SECOND BUT THE KING QUICKLY TRYING TO OVERTAKE HIM! Spike: OH NO! TIRESON'S LOOSE! HE BUMPS THE KING! THERE HE GOES RIGHT IN THE DIVIDER BETWEEN PIT ROAD AND THE TRACK! THE KING LOST ALL FOUR TIRES! HE SPINS AND CATCHES FIRE! Pinkie: TERRIBLE TRAGEDY HAPPENED HERE AT VEGAS TODAY! Spike: THE KING LOST ALL HIS TIRES AND SKIDDED ON HIS INJURED TIRES! POOR KING! (cries) Pinkie: WHY!? (cries) (The King Team Radio) The King: Augh. I crashed. That ain't good now. Roger, can you hear me? Roger? (John Firecatcher comes) John Firecatcher: DON'T WORRY! I AM COMING FOR YOU! (Sprays water from his hose on him) (Kraig races, but stops to see The King) Kraig: King? KING!? DID HE DIE!? NOOOO! IT CAN'T BE! The King (extremely weak): Hello Kraig. Tow Truck: It's towing time! (Back live) Pinkie (still cries): THIS IS SO SAD! THE KING IS BADLY HURT AND WILL NEVER RACE AGAIN! (Both scream of tears and hug each other while they watch the clip of The King winning the 1969 Texas 350 and clips of The King winning his triple crown in 1971.) (Back at the helicopter) The King (weakly): Bye, I'll miss you, Kraig. A lot for sure. Kraig: BYE KING! Thomas Blades: Up, up and AWAY! (Thomas Blades goes into the skies) Racers About The King (Lap 6 Red Flag Interview) Lapis: Roger Wheeler, Luke Pettlework, Tex Dinoco, Bobby Carsac, Frank Marintire, David Palmer, Martin Power, Thomas Tireson, Kraig Shiftright, Mario Andretti and Lynda Weathers, aka The Queen. What do you feel about The King? Roger (crying): HE CAN'T DIE! Luke (crying): NOT AFTER EVERYTHING WE WENT THROUGH! Tex: I hope The King is gonna be ok because I am very worried right now. Bobby: The King seems like a good racer, but I hope he doesn't die today. Frank: That was a nasty crash! I saw it! So bad! David: Unbelievable. Way worse than any crash I've seen in my entire life. Martin: It was one of the worst accidents EVER!!!!!!!! Thomas: I feel so bad. Honestly, I did not mean to wreck him that much. It was a major mistake for me. I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to harm you, King. Kraig: I have never seen a crash like this at Las Vegas in my LIFE! Mario: Oh my god, that is extremely sad! The King is my friend and I hope he recovers. Lynda (cries): HORRIFIC! Lapis (cries): You're right! Back to you Pinkie and Spike. Pinkie: We are currently flag to flag LIVE at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where Strip Weathers, The King, has crashed seriously. I also (cries) NOT AGAIN!? Spike: What the (Popeye toot), Pinkie?! Are you crying!? Pinkie (crying): THE (Popeye toot) KING WILL NEVER RACE AGAIN!! ALSO, SORRY FOR THE F WORD THE KING! Spike: I am sure that he'd survive and might probably be William Axel's 1974 rookie year. Anyway, we're live on ABC's Wide World of Sports where The King has crashed a bunch of hits! That's right, ladies and gentlecars! He has crashed badly and will probably never race again, as Pinkie said. And MAYBE William Axel might be 1974 Rookie of the Year. That isn't confirmed yet. This will be one of the most historic races EVER! Part-time racer Don Chapcar is also seen with Roger. Don: Roger, stop crying!! Roger (crying): THE KING HAS PROBABLY DIED AND WILL BE PUT IN A SCRAPYARD FOREVER! HE'S NEVER COMING TO LAS VEGAS AGAIN! EVER! I (Dolphin Censor) MEAN IT! I AM REALLY (Ahooga) SAD! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHAHA! '' Donald Smith: Yeah. Spike: And Donald Smith is there, too! Plus, many more racers too! Ronald: Dang that was bad for him. The King debuted only three years after me in 1965 and he is older than me. Ernie: I hope he recovers. Seven minutes later at Las Vegas Motor Hospital The King (weakly): Where am I? Doctor: I'm here at the hospital. The King: I feel very bad. I could hear my wife crying and I heard Mario Andretti say "I hope he recovers." talking about me, of course. Doctor: Man! No wonder they call you The King. You're strong and calm and not panicked at all. How are you feeling? The King: Well my tires feel sore and my engine blew up when I crashed. Doctor: Okay, let me check. The engine is the most important part of a Piston Cup car! And, especially, ANY car! (later) Fred Watcar: Okay you already know me as Fred Watcar but the major news is The King severely injured all his tires as well as needs a few replacement parts after that crash, more specifically during that 500-meter spin out before his engine caught fire. When he hit that divider he lost all his tires. So he is in bad shape but my wife will treat him and help him to at least move if not race again. Lynda: NOOOOOO! Luke and Roger (crying): NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Roger: ''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The King: It's ok guys. Fred will fix me up and ill be back in no time! Anne is also a very good racing nurse who treats many race cars. (back to Pinkie and Spike) Spike: I'm okay, now. I finally stopped crying. Unfortunately, Pinkie is crying still. But the race is restarted as of now and the racers are back in positions. ABC News Announcement Car 1: This is ABC news live here in Las Vegas. As you all know the breaking news is that The King crashed heavily and badly damaged all of his four tires. Car 2: He is currently in the hospital in serious condition. He is quite likely to die. That's all for now, ABC Sports coverage of the Tow Cap 400 will continue. Carsac dedicates win to The King Bobby: I dedicate the win to The King. He couldn't be 2nd, he crashed, you know it! Lynda: Just AMAZING! A racer with a model similar to my husband's wins! Roger: I know right! Luke: But I miss THE KING! Roger: I KNOW! IT'S GONNA BE SO ODD WITH DINOCO BLUE BILLY AROUND AND NOT OUR KING! William: True that. I haven't raced much at all. The King, on the other hand, is very experienced. Results 1. Bobby Carsac - 200 laps 2. Joe Allen Foyt - 200 laps 3. Mario Andretti - 200 laps 4. R.A Rubberton - 200 laps 5. Ronald Oaks - 200 laps 6. Johnathan Melter - 200 laps 7. Brad Gonzalez - 200 laps 8. Ron Pitcar - 200 laps 9. Michael Smith - 200 laps 10. Carl Smith - 200 laps 11. Slide Powers - 200 laps 12. Cole Speedland - 200 laps 13. Alloy Wilson - 200 laps 14. Ernie Gearson - 200 laps 15. James Carlidge - 199 laps 16. Ryan Roadages - 199 laps 17. Rev Pitcar - 199 laps 18. Donald Smith - 199 laps 19. Andrew Axler - 199 laps 20. Bill Brady - 199 laps 21. Robert Henderson - 198 laps 22. David Palmer - 198 laps 23. Don Chapcar - 171 laps(crash) 24. James Cleanair - 171 laps(crash) 25. Dick Miller - 171 laps(crash) 26. Alex Quint - 104 laps(engine) 27. Charles Johnson - 65 laps(crash) 28. Norman Green - 47 laps(punctured tire) 29. John Retoline - 21 laps(engine) 30. Bill Shields - 6 laps(hit debris of The King) 31. Thomas Tireson - 5 laps(crash) 32. The King - 5 laps(crash, serious injuries) 33. Martin Power - 5 laps(crash) 34. Kraig Shiftright - 5 laps(crash) 35. Frank Marintire - 5 laps(crash) Trivia # This is The King's worst crash. # Roger and Luke cried their hardest this race, so did Tex Dinoco, Matthew "True Blue" McCrew and Lynda Weathers "The Queen". Category:Historic Races Category:Featured Articles Category:Tragic Moments